Worthy
by Tai Kuroba
Summary: This was it. Time to test all he had learned. AE AU in the same universe as TMIT


Can't believe I forgot this...

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh. This is a non-profit fan work.

Bakura stretched as he ran through his mental checklist, _'Rope,'_ he touched his toes, _'emergency rations,'_ flipped over in a backbend which flowed seamlessly into a walkover, _'lantern,'_ and put a hand ruefully to his scar, _'and my dagger. Hopefully the practice pays off.'_ He shook his head free of cobwebs, returning himself to the present. Satisfied that he was sufficiently prepared and warmed-up, the white haired boy stepped forward into the tomb.

A short flight of steps gave way to a stone hallway about twice as wide as a man and half again as tall. Sharp grey eyes quickly appraised the corridor, taking in the simple carvings- and well concealed notches on the walls. He stepped forward carefully, testing each stone for give before placing his full weight on it so as not to trigger any traps. About halfway through he discovered a trigger stone and hopped over it with ease- only to land smack dab on another. He bit back a curse and flung himself forward through the sudden onslaught of darts, tumbling into the next room. Panting with exertion and the exhilaration that only came from risking your life, he checked himself over for injuries. A sharp twinge drew his attention to the dart lodged smugly in his forearm. This time he spit the curse out vehemently, enraged at his own carelessness. He plucked the offending object from his skin and slipped it into his pouch. _'Waste not, want not,'_ he thought, recalling a favorite saying of his father's.

A wave of dizziness swept over him, _'Damn!' _The dart had been poisoned. He swiftly tore a strip of cloth from his kilt and fashioned a makeshift tourniquet to keep the poison from spreading further and pressed his mouth to the wound to suck the bad blood out. After a few minutes, he was satisfied that he wouldn't be dropping dead any time soon and turned his attention to the chamber he now occupied.

The room was large, but the sheer quantity of items it contained made it feel small and cramped. Bakura wound his way past statues of Anubis, Horus, Bast and Ma'at; beautifully painted pots; intricately carved wooden toys; piles of gold and gems; and heaps of jewelry that looked like it belonged on the Pharaoh. The only reason his eyes weren't the size of dinner plates was that it was all fake. Just cheap knock-offs of no real value put out in a vain attempt to trick people like him.

_'I'm almost insulted. Did they really think items of such poor quality would fool __**me**__?' _He eventually made his way across the entire room, but there was no sign of a way out. It appeared to be a dead end, but Bakura didn't believe it for a second. He looked to the walls, hoping for a hint or clue buried in the chaos. They were almost as cluttered as the room itself, covered in paintings, writing and carvings. Finally, he spotted it:

_**My mother lives in Bubastis.**_

_**In beauty I have no rival.**_

_**Why should I come?**_

Nothing written that way was ever anything but a riddle, _'This is rather ambiguous,' _he frowned,_ 'Is it a reference to a famous person? Or a god? Oh, a god… Bast is based in Bubastis, right? But who is her daughter?'_

Bakura was stumped, and seriously berating himself for neglecting his theological studies. '_Father always said they would be important some day. But the lesser gods are so boring.' _He searched the message desperately for a hidden meaning, something he had missed.

Then it hit him, _'What a simple code! The first letters of each line,' _he wrote them quickly in the dirt, _'Miw, miut… It's a cat!' _He shook his head at his foolishness, _'Daughters of Bast. How did I miss that?' _

A quick scan of the room revealed a large and gaudy cat statue standing against the far wall. Bakura hurried over to it, but to his disappointment there was nothing there. No door, no hidden passage, no more clues. _'Wait- the riddle! The last line doesn't fit with the others. Perhaps it tells you the answer?' _His mind worked furiously but the answer stubbornly refused to reveal itself. The brat.

His stomach growled and he slumped, _'I'm hungry. Maybe I should eat some of my emergency rations...' _He sat up suddenly, "That's it! If you want a cat to come, you give it…" he searched the wall and smiled triumphantly, "Fish!"

He pressed his hand to a carved relief of a fish and watched giddily as the cat statue slid aside, revealing a narrow tunnel. Bakura dashed quickly through the passage, completely unbothered by the close quarters that forced him to stoop. He burst out of the tunnel at break-neck speed, tumbling straight into the jaws of a crocodile! One back-flip later, he was pressed against the opposite wall trying frantically to calm down. Now that there was some distance between him and the vicious beast he realized two things. First, it was not a crocodile, but the hippopotamus/lion/crocodilian monster known as The Devourer. Second, it was a statue. An extremely realistic and murderous looking statue, but a statue nonetheless. Since it didn't look like he was going to be eaten, Bakura took stock of his surroundings. This room was nowhere near as cluttered as the last, containing only the statue and a mural. It was on the wall by which the beast crouched, and it was the most beautiful mural he had ever seen. It depicted The Final Judgment in which Osiris weighed the hearts of the dead against the Feather of Ma'at, goddess of truth and honor. If you were righteous and led a good life, the scales would balance and your soul would be free to enter the afterlife. If you were wicked… His eyes drifted back to the statue and shuddered.

He turned resolutely back to the mural, and quickly lost himself in it, awed by the radiance of Ma'at's feather and the majesty of Osiris. There was an inscription as well, "Only the worthy shall pass." Bakura snorted. A room designed to stop people with 'wicked thoughts'. _'People like me.'_ He smirked, these rooms were actually the easiest to get through as very little imaginative thinking was required. Simply think piously and… Ah.

His eyes lit on the answer almost immediately, a small altar cradled between The Devourer's paws. He edged cautiously toward the statue, still slightly wary of those large stone teeth. _'Okay, their lack of creativity completely made up for by the atmosphere.'_ He kneeled before the altar and made an offering of his bread, wishing the tomb's resident good fortune in the afterlife. No sooner had he finished than a soft click sounded. The wall swung gently open, revealing the treasure at last.

Bakura stepped through the portal into the bright sun, blinding after the gloom of the crypt. His father was there waiting and Bakura tried in vain to glean news from his expression. The older man's gruff voice rang out, "Young one, you have conquered the Tomb of Kul Elna. According to our laws, you are now a man and are entitled to train under the finest thieves in our village."

A small smile graced his father's face, "Congratulations, son. You are a tomb robber."

A/N: Word count, 1,193. This one was a monster, and is probably riddled with errors. I'm unsure about the existence of Ancient Egyptian lanterns, if that's wrong I'll fix it. Any tomb eccentricities are creative license for the purposes of excitement. I know the riddle is a little... off, as it isn't written in Egyptian. Please don't ask ;) Any fact I got right is credited to Sefina and the book "Red Land, Black Land". Anything I got wrong is all me.


End file.
